Panelists from Texas Tribune Festival and Austin Council of PTAs workshop at Capitol discuss future vision, funding of public education
, S
STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION: AISD Trustee Board Member Lynn Boswell speaks on the upcoming voter approval tax rate elections and what it means for taxpayers voting this past week at the Capitol panel. Boswell said one of the most important things on the ballot is AISD Proposition A.
“[It’s] the only option we have under state law to increase funding to our local public schools,” Boswell said.
Boswell urges people to vote for this proposition because of what it will do for the school systems. She believes that this will better support teachers, bring new academic support to students, add mental health support and reduce budget deficits.
“[It will] add 9 cents to our local tax collection,” Boswell said. “That will bring another $41 million into our schools, that translates to about $550 per student.”
Funding for schools is directed by the state that decides how much each district will receive. Since 2019, they chose to not significantly increase personal funding despite inflation.
“We know that inflation has gone up by more than 20% in that time so the buying power of what we have in 2019 has diminished since then,” Boswell said.
Overall, Boswell believes schools need to be funded better than they are currently being funded and passing this proposition is a step in the right direction.
Original Publication: https://macshieldonline.com/62532/photo-galleries/debates-over-education-persist-as-legislators-districts-consider-budgets-vouchers/
